I. Comprehension questions:

I. What do we call a microcomputer? 2. What functions do some ICs contain? 3. What purpose was the microprocessor originally developed for? 4. How many digits does the binary system use? 5. Where are the electrical pulses used? 6. What is necessary for understanding the machine language? 7. Why must microcomputer systems use shorthand number systems? 8. What does the real value of a digit depend on?

II. Discussion questions:

1. What functions is a single microprocessor 1С capable of performing? 2. How is a microcomputer formed? 3. What is a microcomputer on a chip? 4. Why is the microprocessor sometimes called a microcontroller? 5. What do the 0 and 1 digits represent? 6. What number systems are there? 7. What way does the positional weight of the digit increase?

III. Speak on the arithmetical operations by electrical means.

IV. Render the text into Ukrainian.

V. Group activities:

a) Large-scale integration (LSI) in electronics.

b) How many separate electronic components can a chip contain?

c) What have minicomputers, microcomputers, micro­processors and microcontrollers in common?

d) Define the computer's hardware and software.

Lesson 3-4

1. Read and translate the text:

ELECTRICITY AND ELECTRONICS

“Atomic Age” is the name often applied to the period in which we live. It is also frequently referred to as the “Air Age”. These terms emphasize the importance of science and invention in our time. But we can speak of an age that has prepared the way for these and includes them all — the “Age of Electricity and Electronics."

From the remarkable achievements of nuclear science and the noticeable progress in aviation to the innumerable discoveries that have added comfort and convenience to our daily lives, we are constantly dependent upon electricity and electronics.

It is very difficult to separate the meaning of the two words "electricity" and "electronics". The field of electricity is usually thought of as electricity that is used in magnets, generators, motors, lights and heaters.

The field of electronics is usually thought of as electricity that is used in radio, television, and other equipment where electron tubes and transistors are needed.

Basically electronics is not so much a new subject as a new way of looking at electricity. All electrical effects are really electronic because all electric currents result from the movements of electrons, and all electric charges are due to the accumulation of electrons.

Electronics is the science or practice of using electricity in devices similar to radio tubes so as to get results not possible with ordinary electrical equipment.

Although electronics has received greater attention in recent years, we have been using electronic equipment for half of a century. Radio, television, sound pictures, fluorescent lighting and long-distance telephone calls owe their existence to electronics. As most of these familiar equipments serve to carry or give information one may say that communication has been the major purpose of electronics.

Electronics is closely connected with a series of discoveries and inventions which have revolutionized the life of man in this twentieth century. In 1883 Thomas A. Edison discovered current conduction through gas in an incandescent lamp. This phenomenon known as the Edison effect marked the birth of electronic science. The Edison effect was followed by the discoveries of electromagnetic waves, X-rays, wireless communication and at last by the invention of the two-electrode detector or the "valve". These basic discoveries and a lot of others have produced what is known as electronics.

Nothing can be done in modern research laboratory without the aid of electricity and electronics. Nearly all of the measuring devices used in industry and research are electrically operated. Electronics has found broad application in industry as a means of automation, control and inspection, and as a direct means of fulfilling such operations as melting, cutting of superhard materials and welding.